early Early to early Late Maastrichtian fossils

[Fossilsforever]

Addition to another (earlier) post.

Found some interesting fossils from the late Cretaceous in Europe. 

In the south of the Netherlands (Limburg), Cretaceous sediments occur. At and around the ‘Schneeberg’ (border between Vaals and Germany), the Kalksteen van Vijlen (Vijlen chalk), Orsbach Kreide (Orsbach chalk) and Kunrader Kalksteen (Kunrader chalk) or Vetschauer Kalksteen are present. Fossils from these sediments consist of belemnites (Belemnitella junior (Nowak, 1913), Belemnella (Pachybelemnella) sumensis (Jeletzky, 1949) and/or Belemnella (Pachybelemnella) cimbrica (Birkelund, 1957), some intermediate forms are described as Belemnella ex gr. sumensis/cimbrica, sea urchins (Echinocorys sp. including Echinocorys gr. conoidea (Goldfuss, 1829) and Cardiaster granulosus (Goldfuss, 1829), oysters (Pycnodonte vesicularis (Lamarck, 1806), shark teeth (for example Carcharias sp., Cretalamna lata (Agassiz, 1843), Paleohypotodus bronni (Agassiz, 1843), Squalicorax pristodontus (Agassiz, 1843) and Pseudocorax affinis (Münster in Agassiz, 1843) and other fossils. Many fossils are from the Vijlen Chalk (early Early to early Late Maastrichtian). Fossils from the Vijlen 0-3 and Vijlen 4-6 (Vijlen chalk) are approximately between 70.6 and 69.3 million years old. The basis of interval 0 of the Vijlen Member could be dated at 70.6 Ma. Lithology and bioclast contents for intervals 5 (upper part) and 6 of the Vijlen Member at Mamelis (Mamelis 62D-78) have indicated an age of 69.7-69.3 Ma. According to recent research the base of the Vijlen Member is dated at 70.4 Ma and the fossils from Vaals and nearby places could be between 70.4 (the base of the Vijlen Member) and 69.7 or 69.5 million years old (Lixhe 1 Hz. and mid-Lixe 1). Including the latest part of the late Late Maastrichtian, Cretaceous fossils from Limburg and its capital Maastricht are between 70.4 and 66.02 million years old. 

 

Some Cretaceous fossils. Belemnites (Belemnitella junior or Belemnella (Pachybelemnella) sp.), oysters (Pycnodonte vesicularis), small shark teeth (including possibly Paleohypotodus bronni), sea urchins (Echinocorys sp.) and one small sea urchin (possibly Echinogalerus belgicus (Lambert, 1898) plus one brachiopod. 

 

Internet

https://www.somniosus.be/Homepage_set.htm

 

Literature

Birkelund, T. (1957). Upper Cretaceous belemnites from Denmark. Det Kongelige Danske Videnskabernes Selskab, Biologiske Skrifter, 9, 1–69, Copenhagen.

Christensen, W.K. (1995). Belemnitella from the Upper Campanian and Lower Maastrichtian chalks of Norfolk, England. Special Papers in Palaeontology, 51, 1-84. London.

Felder, P.J. & Bless, M.J.M. (1994). The Vijlen Chalk (early Early to early Late Maastrichtian) in its type area around Vijlen and Mamelis (southern Limburg, The Netherlands). Annales de la Société géologique de Belgique 116: 61–85.

Felder, W.M. & Bosch, P.W. (2000). Geologie van Nederland, deel 5. Krijt van Zuid-Limburg. NITG TNO, Delft/

Utrecht: 192 pp.

Gallagher, W. 1997. When Dinosaurs Roamed New Jersey. Rutgers University Press.

Jagt, J.W.M. (2005). Stratigraphic ranges of mosasaurs in Belgium and the Netherlands (Late Cretaceous) and cephalopod-based correlations with North America. Netherlands Journal of Geosciences. 84. 10.1017/S0016774600021065.

Jagt, J.W.M. (2012). Belemnitellid coleoids (Mollusca, Cephalopoda) from the type Maastrichtian, the Netherlands and Belgium. Scripta Geologica. Special Issue, 08, 93–112.

Jagt, J.W.M, & Jagt-Yazykova, E.A. (2012). Stratigraphy of the type Maastrichtian – a synthesis. Scripta Geologica. Special Issue, 08, 5–32.

Keutgen, N., Jagt, J.W., Felder, P., & Jagt-Yazykova, E. (2010). Stratigraphy of the upper Vijlen Member (Gulpen Formation; Maastrichtian) in northeast Belgium, the southeast Netherlands and the Aachen area (Germany), with special reference to belemnitellid cephalopods. Geologie En Mijnbouw, 89, 109-136.

Jeletzky, J.A. (1949). Über den taxonomischen Wert einiger morphologischer Elemente des Rostrums der belemnitellenartigen Formen (Familie Belemnitellidae Pavlow, 1913), sowie über die Gattung Belemnella (Nowak, 1913,subg.) Jeletzky, 1941, ihre Phylogenie und einige Vertreter.Neues Jahrbuch für Mineralogie, Geologie und Paläontologie, B9, 257–287.

Keutgen, N. (2011). The belemnite zonation of the uppermost Cretaceous in the Maastricht-AachenLiège, Brabant-Méhaigne and Mons areas (Belgium, southeast Netherlands). In: Jagt, J.W.M., Jagt-Jagt. Belemnitellid coleoids from the type Maastrichtian. Scripta Geol., Spec. Issue 8 (2012).

Keutgen, N. (2018). A bioclast-based astronomical timescale for the Maastrichtian in the type area (southeast Netherlands, northeast Belgium) and stratigraphic implications: The legacy of P.J. Felder. Netherlands Journal of Geosciences, 97(4), 229-260. doi:10.1017/njg.2018.15

Nestler, H. (2002). Die Fossilien der Rügener Schreibkreide (4. überarbeitete und erweiterte Auflage). Die Neue Brehm-Bücherei Bd. 486., Hohenwarsleben (Westarp Wissenschaften-Verlagsgesellschaft mbH).

Schulz, M.G. (1979). Morphometrisch-variationsstatistische Untersuchungen zur Phylogenie der Belemniten-Gattung Belemnella im Untermaastricht NW-Europas. Geologisches Jahrbuch, A47, 3–157.

Van der Ham, R. & van Birgelen, M. (1992). Zeeëgels uit het Maastrichtien van de Schneeberg en omgeving (Aken, Duitsland). Natuurhistorisch Maandblad, 81(8/9), 139–153.

Vellekoop, J. & Kaskes, P. & Sinnesael, M. & Huygh, J. & Déhais, T. & Jagt, J. & Speijer, R. & Claeys, P. (2022). A new age model and chemostratigraphic framework for the Maastrichtian type area (southeastern Netherlands, northeastern Belgium). Newsletters on Stratigraphy. 55. 10.1127/nos/2022/0703.

Edited October 4, 2023 by Fossilsforever

[Tidgy's Dad]

Nice haul.

I can't see clearly, but are you sure that your small 'bivalve' isn't a terebratulid brachiopod? 

Edited October 4, 2023 by Tidgy's Dad

[ziggycardon]

Nice finds, I agree with Adam. Looks more like a brachiopod.
Did you find these at the Selzerbeek?

[rocket]

nice finds. I agree with the others, the bivalve seems to be a brachiopod.

The sea-urchin looks like a small Galeola or Offaster, could you turn it and post a pic from the bottom?

The both Echinocorys, are they flint-preserved?

thanks for respond

[Fossilsforever]

Correction: it is a brachiopod. But not quite sure which species. The Echinocorys including the fragment are Steinkerns (flint-preserved casts or molds). 

The small sea urchin is (possibly) a Echinogalerus belgicus (Lambert, 1898).